Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear…
The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can cultivate it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing keeping her alive.
Told in Victor LaValle’s signature style, blending historical fiction, shimmering prose, and inventive horror, Lone Women is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—and a portrait of early twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen.
LONE WOMEN
Victor Lavelle
LONE WOMEN starts blazing fast and doesn’t ever slow down. It’s a moving train you’ve jumped on without knowing and it’s going fast.
It stars Adelaide a woman born with a burden too heavy to carry. But that’s exactly what she does as she sets off from California to Montana in 1914 to stake her claim and start a new life, amongst other things.
She is just one of many homesteaders coming to Montana to settle and the rugged environment is a sharpening stone for all that decide to do so. Adelaide is Black, has secrets to keep buried, and rides alone. One of those things alone would be tough but all three combine to make Adelaide’s plight harder than most.
It’s hard to explain what happens when you open the pages of a really good book. But it just feels different, doesn’t it?
And it didn’t take me much time at all to notice and appreciate the talent that Victor Lavelle put forth in this novel. The writing is thoughtful, and the themes presented within the text are evolutions ahead of other horror books on the market.
A horrifying tale, captivating and poetic, in well under 300 pages. I loved my time in the new frontier with Lavelle.
LONE WOMEN comes out later this month on March 28, 2023. It is available now as a Book of the Month choice and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group – Random House, One World for the advanced copy!
LONE WOMEN…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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